In-home 'underground' cooking that whets the appetite, fills the cup and delights the soul.

My Story

My name is Leila, I am a follower of Jesus, wife, mother of two precious little boys, a passionate cook and people lover. Initially while we lived in Sydney I developed 'tablenosh' as a way I could open my home and gather all sorts of people around the table to eat and share life. A 'tablenosh' dinner was sort of like a dinner party open to the public...you had to book in and I could only seat 10 people.
I truly love sharing our table, and filling up our home with friends, family and strangers simply fills up my heart!
I am an experimental cook who is always learning. I don't have any formal training other than a cooking class or two, but enjoy learning right here in my kitchen.
Tablenosh has been a wonderful opportunity to see food bring all kinds of people together around the table. It has also been a great chance for me to grow my culinary skills.
Although at this stage now in Richmond, I am not really doing 'tablenosh' dinners like I did in Sydney we do our best to open our table and home to many and share fellowship around the table. I also continue to explore cooking ideas and concepts, particularly gluten free, local, paleo and toddler friendly :) !

What is Tablenosh?

Tablenosh has grown out of my desire to bring people together around food while growing my culinary skills. It was inspired by the 'underground' restaurant movement that is happening around the world.

My initial concept for 'tablenosh' was a group of people coming together around a table to enjoy an evening of good food and company in a humble and cozy setting. My vision being that 'tablenosh' would not only whet the appetite, but will truly delight the soul as one engages in community around the table.Although this blog initially focused on sharing the stories, menus and fun of 'tablenosh' dinner parties & events it has transitioned into the place where I continue to share my food journey, ideas, recipes, hopes, dreams and passions of food & people. It is certainly my hope the 'tablenosh' dinners will eventually reignite here in RVA - or possible a little underground morning side-porch cafe of some sort...I will keep you posted.

Tablenosh 'underground' Bakery

Occasionally I will cater a party or make a special cake, pie, or other. If this is something you are interested in please feel free to contact me.

Contact Information

Leila Gunning

tablenoshing@hotmail.com

Recent Posts

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Another 'noshing' night in my cozy little Sydney apartment! I had 10 guests, only 4 of whom I had met before at least once, it was a great night mixed with interesting people as well as discussion. Hot topics seemed to be film, television, social media and technology.

The menu was called 'slightly italian' and consisted of a few things I had been practicing and a few new recipes as well. I was not perfectly pleased and a few of these still need a bit of work, but overall I think the guests were well fed and went home full!

Here are a few pictures of prep and the final product...

Nothing like homemade apple pie!

And it is always nice to be able to pick something out of my garden...even if the only thing growing at the moment is mint!! :)

The aperitif was a pomegranate martini.

For starters I made a 'caprese' bruschetta (fresh mozzarella, basil & tomato on crusty sour dough)

It was a great night, as always worth the time and energy that goes into it. Once we retired to the lounge room for tea and coffee (and some chocolate truffles) I had the chance to relax and chat with everyone. We ended up having a good discussion about my pilot and I even got a few great ideas...I'm just hoping someone also might have a really good connection for me!

Next tablenosh dinner is June 25th (all proceeds go towards the pilot!)